Thursday, July 14, 2011

The Deadspin list of 100 Worst Baseball Players of All Time (Part 1/Part 2) is well worth your time, but it is shockingly bereft of Marlins (seriously, no Orestes Destrade, Miguel Olivo, or Emilio Bonifacio?). Maybe this offseason Ted and I will make a list of the 10 worst Marlins of all time, but in the meantime, there's always Julian Tavarez:

53. Julian Tavarez, 1993-2009 (Giants/Cardinals/Indians/Red Sox/Pirates/Rockies/Nationals/Braves/Cubs/Marlins/Brewers)Many players with reputations for lousy personalities make up for it by winning the respect of their teammates. Julian Tavarez, who was in all fairness a pretty average pitcher, did not pursue this option. Instead, he became notorious for throwing fastballs at his former teammates after somebody—usually Tavarez, who played on ten teams—changed franchises. Tavarez called San Francisco Giants fans "a bunch of assholes and faggots." He got into fights, multiple ones during Spring Trainings, even. He broke things in dugouts and bullpens. Once, while playing for the Red Sox, Tavarez fielded a slow grounder up the line and rolled the ball to first baseman Kevin Youkilis. "Because I want to," he said.

Oh Julian, no one held a grudge like you did. Not even Jose Mesa (who famously plunked Omar Vizquel nearly every time he faced him after Vizquel trashed him in his book for blowing a save in game 7 of the 1997 World Series while both played for the Indians).